Katherine "Kater" Rose Kelly

The family will receive friends from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 with funeral services following at 2:00 p.m. at Weed-Corley-Fish Lake Travis Chapel. A reception will follow in the Magnolia Room. For those wishing to send a donation in lieu of flowers, Kater was a big supporter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure to fight breast cancer. There are three ways to donate: Online at www.KOMEN.ORG, Phone 1-877-GO-KOMEN, or Mail to Susan G. Komen, P.O. Box 96216, Washington, DC 20090-6216.

Kater was born on June 25, 1959 in Lima, Ohio, to B. William Curry and Geraldyn Ada Rose Curry. Her family moved to Huntington, Long Island NY when she was 8. She met Phil Kelly at a Band Camp clinic in Bridgeport, CT just as she was starting high school and they became high school sweethearts. She and Phil remained friends as they went their separate ways to college and Kater received a BS degree in Interior Design and Residential Construction from Michigan State. After graduation she looked up Phil when in Houston for a builder convention and the romance started up again. Phil and Kater were married June 29, 1985. Although she has celebrated her 25th wedding anniversary this year, Phil and Kater have known each other for over 36 years.

Kater moved to Houston in 1984 and she and Phil made a life together in northwest Houston as Compaq Computer began its meteoric rise to success over the next decade. Kater built her first dream house in 1994, and later her second dream house in El Dorado Hills, CA in 2000 after Phil joined Intel. In both new neighborhoods, Kater made new friends easily and enjoyed entertaining a great deal, commonly being the catalyst for many social gatherings. In 2000 Kater was diagnosed with Breast cancer. She demonstrated an incredible positive attitude and completed the most aggressive treatment with great success and put it all behind her.

Kater loved to travel, and cruising was her passion. She amassed over 28 cruises since 1990, and achieved Diamond status with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and Captains Club Elite status with Celebrity Cruise Lines. Of course, there were the occasional land trips where there was no ocean close by. Below is an attempt to list the destinations and adventures...

Europe: London, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Tallinn (Estonia), Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, Prague, Buda Pest, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich and the Romance Road, Barcelona, Nice, Monaco, Florence, Pizza, Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, and Venice.

Australia/New Zealand: Alice Springs, Canes, Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart (Tasmania), Dunedin, Christchurch, Napier, Tauranga, and Auckland (saw the world famous naval power Switzerland beat the Kiwi’s to win the America’s Cup).

Americas: Fairbanks, Anchorage, Denali, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Vancouver, Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, Catalina Island, Cabo San Lucas, Porte Vallarta, Mazatlan, Acapulco Grand Canyon, Sedona, Niagara Falls, Windsor.

Caribbean: St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, St. Lucia, Virgin Gordo, Tortola, St. Bart’s, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, Antigua, Barbados, Martinique, Aruba, Curacao, Granada, Trinidad, Tobago, Dominica, San Juan, Grand Cayman, Panama Canal, Costa Rica, Nassau, Freeport.

In addition to Kater’s enjoyment of traveling, she enjoyed taking care of the numerous cats over the years. Not only were there the “indoor” cats but Kater’s heart reached out to the care of the outdoor cats, some of which became the indoor cats and the rest Kater saw to it that they were adopted into good homes. She also enjoyed sewing and quilting not only for the joy of sewing but the ability to share the product of her work with friends and family. She made many of her own formal and holiday wear and she made numerous gifts for friends as well as clothing for nephews and nieces.

The most important thing in Kater’s life besides her husband Phil was her love of family. She was the one in the families who kept the communications going and was a tremendous aunt to the nieces and nephews. She also extended this caring approach to life with a large group of friends, many of whom she treated like family.

She is survived by her husband Phil Kelly; sisters Beth Tucker and Victoria Brewer; nieces Natalie Tucker, Alyssa Tucker, Shannon Alden and Maria Iraggi; nephews Ben Alden, Joshua Alden, Michael Iraggi, Matthew Iraggi and father Bill Curry. In addition, Kater is survived by a large stepfamily form childhood including her stepmother Deanna Menrad, half-sister Heather, step-sister Debbie and their children Amanda, Aurora, Jake, Ariel, Alexis, Jaden and Caden.